How are geographic restrictions affecting you?

[foghat]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

***Unfortunately that isn't working. Your message won't get across***

The most loaded message anyone can send is a deafening silence, Hans. And if more folks would simply to refuse to buy under unfair conditions, things would eventually have to change.

Do remember that by buying products after jumping through hoops and then having to work to adjust them to your needs, you are paying for something basically imperfect.

That you buy anyway sends the message to publishers and stores that some folks will pay their wages even if the seller is not doing his job properly and fairly.

Best wishes. Neil

Silence? I don't know about that.

Let's assume for a minute that as of today, no one circumvents geo-restrictions AND they do not purchase a geographically available book in lieu of the geo-restricted one. Surely online book stores would see a decline in sales (how big or small, I have no idea).

Now, you've sent your message of 'silence' - how do the stores know the reason for this decline in sales is because of geo-restrictions? What makes you think they are going to look to change the restrictions (if they even can) if they don't know the restrictions are the cause of the loss of a sale?

If you couple this with the fact that, in theory (the reality may be different), the ebook seller doesn't even know he had a sale by someone who circumvented the geo-restrictions, your silence in not buying carries even less weight.

Now stepping back for a minute - I'm certain every ebook seller out there wishes they could sell to every country in the world - the fact that they can't is out of their hands and into the publisher's (I think). I don't pretend to understand the ins and outs of the reasons why everything isn't available everywhere, but there are probably contractual obligations that are not easy to overcome.

In the end, your choice not to buy, but I doubt silence is sending much of a message. And you aren't getting to read that book you want.

Maybe if you send an email to the store and publisher every time you do not buy a book due to geo-restrictions. Maybe.

[clockworkzombie]

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

Most annoying is a book series where book 3 and 4 of a 6 book series are not available. Go figure

That has not changed. I attempted to purchase a trilogy last night. Books 1 & 3 were fine book 2 geo restricted. So I purchased none of them. Bah.

There is fortunately enough multiformat books to keep me interested and my Analog subscription keeps ticking over too.

These days most of my ebook purchasing is done at webscriptions.net as it is all region and drm free.

[mikij]

I really hate this thing. So, eBook are like DVDs - zone 1, zone 2... They are stupid at that point that they even don't understand they are stupid.

Another day I wanted to buy some Umberto Eco's books on Amazon in order to strip DRM and transfer to my Sony (as I already did with some other books I really wanted). And guess what? "Only to a valid US address". Gosh, I am in Canada, 50 miles form the US border, and I cannot download these books.

Not only I have to strip DRMs because none of the formats my reader supports is available but I have also to cheat using some other address, just to obtain an eBook I want. Too much for me.

Too bad for them, they lost money, I saved it. But I miss the books.

[karenr_nz]

Well, I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one suffering in silence.

It seems to me that the easiest way to eliminate geo-restrictrions is to define the point of sale for an ebook as the location of the seller (as occurs for physical books), but I believe that this approach has been dis-allowed by US courts ...? Has it been tested in courts in other countries?

What I have been thinking about (but thus far, too disorganised to do) is to create a general letter, and everytime I cannot purchase a book that I want, emailing that letter to the relevant publisher, bookseller and author. If we could get everyone who is affected doing this it might start raising some attention (or perhaps not), but I'm hoping that if the authors started realising how much money they were losing because of their publishers, they might start pushing from that side as well.

The letter would read something like:

"Dear xxx,
Recently I wanted to purchase a copy of your e-book xxxx from ..... Unfortunately, that bookshop will not sell me a copy of your book because I live in [insert location]. There are currently no bookshops in [country] that sell your e-book. I will not buy new books in paper copy, and therefore, you have lost a sale. I purchase many books each year, and although I would like to, your books will not be ones that I purchase until this issue is resolved.
Best wishes
xxxx"

Am I just being hopelessly idealistic???

[Fbone]

Is there anyone you can email to ask how or where to purchase an ebook?

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

And how do you buy the books? I understood you need an US address...

I have several addresses.
When we travel to a new (for us) First World country, I establish a mail box account with an international forwarding company. Cost is about $150 USD per year for the peace of mind that I won't have troubles when I want to order something from that country.

I have credit cards linked to these addresses. I solves the difficulties of International living. My goal is to live comfortably, not to make a political statement.


Stitchawl

[ficbot]

I wonder if a concerted effort to target the author's agents would help. Something like this:

'I am trying to buy Book X by your client Author Y, and was turned away from Amazon/Kobo/Whomever because they are not authorized sellers for my region. As you are Author Y's agent, I was hoping you would have the information about who IS the authorized seller for my region.'

If they write back and say there is no authorized seller, suggest that you will give them six months to therefore negotiate a seller so as to obtain the sale on their client's behalf, and following that, you will either purchase the book or write to the author and inform him that his agent is depriving him of sales from whatever your country is...

[Chris Crouch]

Originally Posted by karenr_nz

What I have been thinking about (but thus far, too disorganised to do) is to create a general letter, and everytime I cannot purchase a book that I want, emailing that letter to the relevant publisher, bookseller and author.

I've sent a couple of such emails to authors.

I would have sent them to their agents and publishers but it's difficult to determine exactly who the agent is for a given author, and most popular authors have many different publishers for different books and in different parts of the world.

Anyway, I made my emails less confrontational because it's not the author's fault. I've sent an email asking for their help in finding an ebook that I can buy in my region.

They've both been very nice in replying to me. In both cases they didn't realize that the book was geographically restricted, and in one case had specifically instructed their agent/publisher to make sure that it wasn't geographically restricted.

Importantly in both cases they said they'd be asking their agents about it. One also offered me an advance copy of her latest book, winning her a fan for life.

So in summary my advice is absolutely to email the author, but phrase it as "please help me buy your ebook".

Chris

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by Chris Crouch

I've sent a couple of such emails to authors.

I would have sent them to their agents and publishers but it's difficult to determine exactly who the agent is for a given author, and most popular authors have many different publishers for different books and in different parts of the world.

Anyway, I made my emails less confrontational because it's not the author's fault. I've sent an email asking for their help in finding an ebook that I can buy in my region.

They've both been very nice in replying to me. In both cases they didn't realize that the book was geographically restricted, and in one case had specifically instructed their agent/publisher to make sure that it wasn't geographically restricted.

Importantly in both cases they said they'd be asking their agents about it. One also offered me an advance copy of her latest book, winning her a fan for life.

So in summary my advice is absolutely to email the author, but phrase it as "please help me buy your ebook".

Chris

I have done exactly that as well. The authors were genuinely concerned that their ebooks were not reaching the readers as they should and they would discuss the matter with their agents.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I have several addresses.
When we travel to a new (for us) First World country, I establish a mail box account with an international forwarding company. Cost is about $150 USD per year for the peace of mind that I won't have troubles when I want to order something from that country.

I have credit cards linked to these addresses. I solves the difficulties of International living. My goal is to live comfortably, not to make a political statement.


Stitchawl

Well, we're not all world-travelers! So, that means I still need to find ways to jump those hoops...

Originally Posted by sabredog

I have done exactly that as well. The authors were genuinely concerned that their ebooks were not reaching the readers as they should and they would discuss the matter with their agents.

Let's hope that authors really manage to convince their agents and that agents really manage to convince their authors (yes, Rowling, I'm looking at you!) that a world wide availability would increase sales...

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

That trick meaning trying to get gift certificates?

Nope, the trick that Sony thinks I live at the Yankee Stadium.

[neilmarr]

I wonder if breaking the silence with a MobileRead petition signed by everyone we can reach and ultimately circulated to errant stores and publishers might be effective. I'd certainly sign and would encourage dozens of others to do so, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have the free time to actually organise such a project. Best wishes. Neil

[mikaelalind]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Nope, the trick that Sony thinks I live at the Yankee Stadium.

I gave my address as Rodeo Drive ( the shopping street ). It seem to have failed, since I cannot down load the freebies I am intrested in. I thought they were checking my IP, but maybe it is just the software.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Nope, the trick that Sony thinks I live at the Yankee Stadium.

It doesn't check your CC address? Because I heard that that is the biggest hurdle...

[lene1949]

I no longer worry about the books I CAN'T buy, but concentrate on the books I CAN buy.

The negative was just an added stressor I didn't need, and there really are a lot of good books available to me. I have a huge TBR list, so maybe the geo-restrictions are doing me a favour...